Report No. 255
(iii) Pre-certification of political advertisements
7.26.1. The Supreme Court, in Ministry of Broadcasting v. Gemini TV Pvt. Ltd., N. SLP (Civil) N. 679/204, dated 13 April, 2004 passed an Order stating all the political advertisements proposed to be issued on TV Channels and Cable Networks by any registered political party/any group or organization/ association/ individual candidate shall be pre-certified by the designated certification committee at various levels to be constituted by the ECI.
7.26.2. The ECI, in consonance with the Supreme Court's Order267, issued instructions on the requirement of pre-certification of political advertisements by a Committee before being telecast on television channels and cable networks by any political party contesting during elections.268 The District MCMC entertains applications for certification of advertisement proposed to be issued on cable network or television channel by the candidate contesting from the Parliamentary Constituency or an Assembly Constituency of that district.
267. Id
268. ECI, Certification of Political Advertising, 25th April 2014,
<http://eci.nic.in/eci_main1/current/ImpIns25042014.pdf>
7.26.3. The Chief Election Officer is also empowered to accept and precertify the advertisements from any political party, irrespective of the location of the headquarters of the party.269 The ECI has clarified that persons other than the candidates are not specifically prohibited from issuing advertisements. However, they are not permitted to issue ads in favour of or for the benefit of or against any political party or candidate.270
269. ECI, Certification of Political Advertising, 11th April 2014,
<http://eci.nic.in/eci_main1/current/ImpIns11.4.2014_15042014_2.pdf>
270. ECI, Guidelines regarding applications received from individuals pre-certification of ads of political nature on TV Channels/Cable Network/Radio- clarification, 12th April, 2014,
<http://eci.nic.in/eci_main1/current/ImpIns12.4.2014_15042014_1.pdf>.
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